Toy vehicle

ABSTRACT

A toy vehicle has a propeller driven by an elastic band motor for propelling it along the ground. The vehicle has a front wheel located ahead of the remaining parts of the vehicle and pivoted to the vehicle and connected to the band so that when the wheel strikes an obstacle it resiliently yields by extending the band to absorb shock.

United States Patent 11 1 Trattner i 1 TOY VEHICLE [75] Inventor: Burton C. Trattner, Hempstead,

[73] Assignee: Albert C. Nolte, Jr.. Jericho. NY.

a part interest [22] Filed: June 11, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 368,572

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation of Ser No. 159,332, July 2, 1971,

abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl. 46/206; 180/1 P [51] Int. Cl A63h 17/00 [58] Field of Search 46/78, 206, 202; 180/1 P, 180/3, 25 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,166,068 7/1939 Hunt 46/78 51 May 27, 1975 10/1943 Marr 180/3 R l/l96l Lang 180/25 R Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Robert F. Cutting Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Nolte and Nolte [5 7] ABSTRACT A toy vehicle has a propeller driven by an elastic band motor for propelling it along the ground, The vehicle has a front wheel located ahead of the remaining parts of the vehicle and pivoted to the vehicle and connected to the band so that when the wheel strikes an obstacle it resiliently yields by extending the band to absorb shock 4 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures airman ums 1 88 346 SHEET [)1 BF 4 INVENTOR W WW ATTORNEYS PZXTENTEUWZUBYS q 885 346 SHEET [25? a INVENTOR F162 BURTON c. TRATTNER BY "7%; 5 7w:

ATTORNEYS PiarEmnm 3 885 345 SHEET [32F 4 INVENTOR BUR TON C. TRATTNER ATTORNE Y3 TOY VEHICLE This is a continuation of application Ser. No. l59,332. filed July 2, 1971, now abandoned.

This invention is concerned with toy vehicles of the kind which run along the ground and is particularly but not necessarily exclusively concerned with toy vehicles driven by elastic bands.

One of the problems of toy vehicles which are pushed along the ground or are driven quickly along the ground is that they tend to be short lived because ofless than careful handling in which they break when they strike walls or other obstacles and they may well damage obstacles such as furniture. To avoid this disadvantage it is proposed, according to the present invention, that such a toy vehicle have a ground engaging wheel resiliently mounted in front of the other parts of the vehicle to prevent damage to the vehicle or furniture in a front end collision.

The wheel may be mounted by a resilient leg or strut secured to the body of the vehicle but preferably, where the vehicle has an elastic band motor in which the band extends longitudinally of the vehicle, the front end of the band is secured to a strut or leg which carries the wheel and which is pivoted to the vehicle body so that when the leg strikes an obstacle the strut or leg tends to lengthen the band and hence the shock is damped.

Preferably vehicles according to this invention have a propeller which is driven by the elastic motor and the propeller axis is inclined to the horizontal to hold down the front of the vehicle, i.e., where the propeller is a pusher propeller the axis of the propeller would be inclined downwardly towards the rear of the vehicle thus tending to keep the front of the vehicle down.

To prevent damage to the propeller of such a vehicle it is desirable that more rugged parts of the vehicle project laterally of the pitch of the propeller to protect that propeller. Additionally, it is desirable to provide a device of greater height than the propeller to prevent the propeller from striking the lower surfaces of obstacles under which the body of the vehicle might pass but under which the propeller would not pass.

The embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the vehicle according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the vehicle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the vehicle of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the vehicle of FIG. 1',

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal vertical cross section of the vehicle of FIG. I; and

FIG. 6 is a transverse vertical cross section along the line 6-6 of FIG. 2.

The vehicle comprises a body of molded plastic and has a main, central longitudinally extending body section 11 which is open along its bottom to provide access to the elastic band motor which is described in more detail hereinafter.

Additionally, the open structure of the body gives a considerable weight saving which greatly improves the performance of the vehicle and of course affords a substantial saving in materials.

Projecting transversely from the center body 11 and to each side of that body are bridge members 12 located towards the rear of the body and supporting wheel arches 13 at their outer ends. Mounted within the wheel arches are ground wheels 14 each of which has a pair of short stubs 15 which are rotatably received within keyhole slots 16 in the side walls of the wheel arches and which are snap fitted into the slots in a man ner known per se in this art.

At the rear of the wheel arches formations are rudder-like projections which are pivotally connected to the main wheel arch projections through hinge lines I8 of reduced thickness so that they can be adjusted to insure that the vehicle will follow a straight line.

For a purpose to be described hereinafter a hoop 20 of generally semi-circular shape extends between the bridge members 12 and over body section 11 and is secured by heads at its end (not shown) which are snapped into corresponding openings in the bridges.

Part way along the main central body 11 is a cut away section within which is located a transparent cover to simulate a cockpit canopy.

Secured within a rear wall of main body 1] for rotation therein is a propeller hub 31 which carries blades 32. The axis of the hub 31 is inclined downwardly towards the rear of the vehicle. Secured to the hub is a hook element 33 to one end of which an elastic band 34 is connected.

The elastic band extends longitudinally of the vehicle within the hollow main body II and at its end remote from the propeller is connected to a hook section 35 of a leg or strut 36 which is pivoted by pins 35 to the front of the vehicle. The leg 36 is cranked as at 37 and has a transverse axle 38 upon which ground wheel 39 is mounted for rotation. It is to be noted that the ground wheel 39 is located in front of the remaining parts of the vehicle.

By having ground wheel 39 in front of the remaining vehicle it is apparent that in any front end collision that wheel will bear the brunt of the impact. As the wheel strikes an obstacle it will tend to pivot and extend the elastic band 34 which will absorb shock and to some extent prevent damage to the vehicle and to the obstacle struck by the vehicle.

It is to be appreciated that perhaps the most vulnerable part of the vehicle of this invention is the propeller and its blades 32. To prevent damage to the blades the bridge members and the wheel arches supported by them are made to extend laterally beyond the pitch of the propeller so that, for example, where the central body of the vehicle passes the leg ofa piece of furniture the propeller will not be damaged by colliding with that leg. Additionally, where the main body would pass beneath a low obstacle it is apparent that damage can be done to the propeller blades. To avoid this the hoop across the bridge members is provided.

This invention provides a simple rugged and exciting toy of high play value for it is one which can travel extremely quickly and yet will not easily be broken.

I claim:

1. A toy vehicle comprising a body and ground engaging wheels, a propeller and an elastic band motor drivingly connected to said propeller, said propeller being a pusher propeller and being inclined to the horizontal to hold the front of the vehicle in a downward position, one of said ground engaging wheels being a front ground engaging wheel located forwardly of the remaining parts of the vehicle and mounted upon a pivoted strut and said elastic band motor being connected to said strut to absorb shock as said front ground engaging wheel strikes an obstacle.

2. A toy vehicle comprising a body and ground engaging wheels. a propeller and an elastic band motor drivingly connected to said propeller, one of said ground engaging wheels being a front ground engaging wheel and being located forwardly of the remaining parts of the vehicle and mounted upon a substantially horizontally pivoted strut and said elastic band motor being connected to said strut to absorb shock as said front ground engaging wheel strikes an obstacle.

3. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 2 having rear ground engaging wheels, said rear ground engaging wheels being mounted upon lateral extensions of said body and said propeller being a pusher propeller and peller guard may pass 

1. A toy vehicle comprising a body and ground engaging wheels, a propeller and an elastic band motor drivingly connected to said propeller, said propeller being a pusher propeller and being inclined to the horizontal to hold the front of the vehicle in a downward position, one of said ground engaging wheels being a front ground engaging wheel located forwardly of the remaining parts of the vehicle and mounted upon a pivoted strut and said elastic band motor being connected to said strut to absorb shock as said front ground engaging wheel strikes an obstacle.
 2. A toy vehicle comprising a body and ground engaging wheels, a propeller and an elastic band motor drivingly connected to said propeller, one of said ground engaging wheels being a front ground engaging wheel and being located forwardly of the remaining parts of the vehicle and mounted upon a substantially horizontally pivoted strut and said elastic band motor being connected to said strut to absorb shock as said front ground engaging wheel strikes an obstacle.
 3. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 2 having rear ground engaging wheels, said rear ground engaging wheels being mounted upon lateral extensions of said body and said propeller being a pusher propeller and being disposed rearwardly of said extensions, said extensions being wider than any other part of the vehicle whereby they are constituted as means protecting said propeller from damage resulting from impact with an obstacle past which that part of the body forward of the extensions may pass.
 4. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 3, comprising a propeller guard secured to said extensions, said propeller guard constituting means protecting said propeller from damage resulting from impact with obstacles under which that part of the body forward of said propeller guard may pass. 